The Fighters
by crazyexgirlfriend
Summary: A mysterious girl is found during a raid and taken back to the cave. She is cautious but slowly Ian begins to gain her trust. They become close friends and soon find themselves falling in love with each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi readers! This story is based on the movie universe because I haven't finished the book yet but a have seen the movie. Please leave me a review. **

**I do not own the Host. **

Chapter One

The Meeting

I slipped into the closed building marked with a large sign that simply said store. Hurrying down the aisles I grabbed different foods. Everything I take will have to last me at least a week. I was getting tired of sneaking into stores every few days and was trying to make fewer trips. My stomach rumbled, I had finished the last of the food from my last visit to the store this afternoon; I looked around and spotted a bag of chips on the shelf closest to me. I grabbed the bag and when I opened it made that loud crinkling noise that all chip bags make. Well, I thought, I guess the aliens can't change everything.

Suddenly I heard a noise from the next aisle. I grabbed my gun and holding it in front of me ran around the corner. I found myself face to face with another gun. Behind the gun was a man who looked like he was in his twenties.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, looking as shocked as I was to see somebody else here.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, "Show me your eyes."

"Okay," he said, looking down on me with eyes that were clearly human. Obviously he saw that mine were also human because he lowered his gun. He nodded at mine, "You don't have to keep pointing that at me you know."

"Yeah I know," I said, I hesitated for a moment, looking from my gun to him and back again before slowly lowering my gun. It was a small handgun that my father had kept in our house my whole life. It had never shot anyone; the only action it ever got was being used to shoot beer cans.

"So," he said, "You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't answered mine," I pointed.

"Well I asked first," he said, with a laugh. I studied him debating if I should trust him or not. He had the kind of face that seemed to be both intense and intimidating and kind and gentle at the same time. "It's okay," he reassured me, he could tell how scared I was, "I'm not a bad guy. I'm not going to hurt you. You can trust me."

The instincts that I had developed since the invasion started told me to run. But a part of me, the part from before all this happened, told me to trust him.

"I'm Anya," I said, finally giving up.

"I'm Ian," he told me.

Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me. I grabbed my gun and turned around. Before I could stop myself I gasped. Behind me were three men, all holding guns; the weapons were pointed at me.

"Drop it," One of them yelled, "I will shot you. Don't think for a second that I won't."

"Kyle," Ian said, "It's okay. It's cool, she's human."

The two men behind him lowered their guns but Kyle didn't. "She's got to drop her gun first." I placed my gun on the ground. "You sure she's not going to attack?" he asked Ian.

"For god's sake Kyle," he said, "She's like what five foot?"

"I'm five foot two," I told him.

"Five foot two," Ian repeated, "You're seriously scared of her? It's her against four guys. We're all at least six feet tall. You're over a foot taller than her. She's not stupid."

Kyle finally stopped pointing his gun at me. "Well," he said, "At least now we know what was taking you so long."

"I can take care of myself Kyle," he said, "But while you're here take those boxes out to the truck," he pointed at some boxes near the beginning of the aisle, "I need to talk to Anya."

The three men walked over to the boxes. I picked up my gun and started to walk away back to the items I has gather in the next aisle over. Behind me I could her Ian following me. When I got back to my stuff I pick up the abandoned bag of chips. "So," I said, as I casually took a bite from a chip, "What is it that you need to talk to me about?"

"Where are you staying?" he asked me.

I turned around mid-bite and looked at him. "Why are you asking?"

He didn't answer my question, "Are you on your own? Or are you with others?" He looked at the basket that held the food I had been collected. "That's not a lot of food," he said, "So I'm going to guess on your own. Am I right?"

"Why would I tell you that?" I asked him, "Do you honestly except me to trust you?"

"I trust _you_," he told me. Something about the way he said it made me believe him.

"Yes," I said, "But as you pointed out. I'm five foot two and you're what six foot?"

"Six one," he said with a laugh, "But you've got a gun. You could have shot me when you first saw me but you didn't. Hell you could shot me right now. I won't stop you." He put his gun down on the ground. "Listen Anya," he said, "I'm not the enemy here. There are only a few of us left. We should stick together instead of fighting. You can come stay with us if you want."

"Where are you staying?" I asked him.

"There are these caves," he told me, "This guy I know, Jeb, he found them and he's gathered a whole group of people there. We live there. We work there. We stay alive."

I thought about my life. Even since the invasion I've been sleeping in the woods or the desert, always moving, never staying in one place for two long. I had to admit a place that I could call home sounded pretty nice.

"Okay," I told him, "I'll go."

We walked over to the exit of the store. The whole time I could feel my heart beating in my chest. My body was reacting the same way any body would if a stranger who had a gun suggested that they leave a store with them. But this was a different situation, in our post invasion world this isn't that strange. But it is possible that my body is reacting just the way it should be. It's possible that Ian did mean to harm me. Even in this new strange world that we live in there are still bad people. But I believe that Ian didn't want to hurt me. I didn't completely trust him, not yet, maybe not ever but I did sense that he wasn't an immediate danger.

When we stepped out of the store I saw that Kyle was loading boxes into the back of a truck. He looked over and noticed that I was with Ian. It was clear on his face that he wasn't happy about this. "I guess the girl's coming then," he said.

"Yes," he said, "Anya is coming with us." He made sure to emphasize his use of my name.


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope you enjoy chapter two. Please, please, please leave me a review and let me know what you think of my story so far.**

**I don't own the Host.**

Chapter Two

The Cave

"Where is she going to sit?" Kyle asked. Ian considered this for a moment; I guess he hadn't thought about this.

"I think she'll fit between me and Jared," he said, "Or we could tie her up and put her on the roof."

I glared at him, "Kidding, kidding," he said, smiling.

Kyle sighs, "You guys shouldn't be joking. You know we have to get back soon."

"Then let's leave now," Ian said as he climbed into the driver's seat of one of the trucks.

Kyle and one of the other men climbed into the other truck. Jared motioned for me to get in next to Ian. I climbed in and soon found myself squeezed between Ian and Jared.

"How far do we have to drive?" I asked.

"About an hour and a half," Ian told me.

"It's been forever since I've been in a vehicle," I told him.

"Well we've got quite a few of those," he said.

It was about then that I noticed exactly how tired I felt. I thought I would just close my eyes for a second but the next thing I knew Ian was waking me up. "We're here Anya," he said, "Time to get out."

I opened my eyes and followed Ian and Jared into the opening of a cave. Once inside I could see that it was really a system of caves. We were in a big room with lots of passageways leading off of it. I could only see down a few of them but I could tell that they had other rooms coming off of them. A man walked towards us.

"Ian," he said, "Who is the girl?"

"I'm Anya sir," I told him.

He studied me for a moment, checking my eyes, seeing that I am human. "Well Anya," he said, offering me his hand to shake, "Welcome to my home. I'm Jeb."

He looks over at Ian and Jared. "We found her in the store," Ian told him, "Are there any empty rooms?"

"I don't think so," the man said, "Anyone willing to share a room with Anya?"

Nobody really jumped at the opportunity. I didn't mind; I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of sharing a room with a stranger.

"Ian," Kyle said, "Bringing her here was your idea. The least you can do is make sure she has a place to stay."

"She can sleep in my room," Ian told Jeb, "I mean I'll sleep on the floor," he added sheepishly.

"It's fine with me," Jeb said, "It's up to Anya."

"Can I keep my gun with me?" I asked.

Everyone laughed. "Sure," Jeb said trying to choke back his laughter, "Just try not to shoot anyone."

"I'll try," I told him.

"Good girl."

"Follow me," Ian said. He led me through twisting and turning tunnels. Finally we reached a small bedroom. "Well," he said, "Welcome to my room. It's not much."

"Are you kidding?" I said, "It's great."

I looked around the room. There was some basic furniture. Some clothes and other things were scattered around. A guitar leaned up against the wall. Ian must have noticed me looking at it.

"Do you play?" he asked me.

"A bit," I told him, "I'm not very good."

"Play me something," he said.

"It's been ages," I said.

"Oh come on," he said, "Please?"

"Some other time," I said.

"Is that a promise?" He asked. I nodded.

When it was time to go to sleep Ian offered me one of his shirts. "We can find you some real clothes in the morning but you're welcome to sleep in that."

I thanked him and he stepped out of the room so that I could change. When I was done he left for a few moments and came back with a pillow and mat. He started to spread it out on the floor. Part of me wanted to tell him that he didn't have to do that.

"You know," I said, "You don't have to do that." He looked at me strangely. "I mean I don't want to kick you out of your bed."

"Don't worry about it," he said, "I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"I've got a gun," I pointed out, "We can share the bed."

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, "I'm sure." We both climbed into bed and feel asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please, please, please, please, please leave me reviews. I love everyone who is reading, enjoying and supporting this story!**

**I do not own The Host.**

Chapter Three

Glowworms

When I woke up the next morning I was unsure of where I was for a few moments. Then I remembered yesterday. I turned around and saw Ian lying next to me. His breath was calm and steady, almost comforting, so I lay there for a while just listening. It had been so long since I had slept in a bed.

Eventually Ian woke up. "Anya," he said, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," I whispered.

He got out of the bed and I could hear him getting dressed. "I guess I'll have to find you some clothes," he said. He left the room and I could hear him in the hallway talking to someone. He came back a few minutes later and handed me a shirt and some sweatpants.

"We can find you more stuff later," he told me, "But I bet you're hungry and want some breakfast."

"Yeah," I said, "Thank you."

He went and stood outside the room while I got changed. When I was done I came outside. We walked in silence for a few minutes and then he spoke. "I'll show you where the bathroom is too," he said, "In case you need it."

"Thank you," I said, "For everything."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Thank you for not shooting me, for bringing me here and for being so nice to me," I said.

He smiled, "You're welcome. I'm glad I didn't shoot you."

"So what is this place?" I asked, "I mean I've never been anywhere like it."

"According to Jeb it's an old volcano," he told me, "Don't worry," he must have noticed my look of concern, "You'll be able to find your way around before you know it."

We got to a big room with tables made of rock. There were lots of people sitting at the tables. Ian and I got our food and then Ian sat down next to Kyle. Even though I'm still a bit scared of Kyle I sat down next to Ian. Jared was sitting across from me.

"How did you sleep last night?" Kyle asked, "Did my brother's snoring keep you up?"

"Shut up Kyle," Ian said, "Everyone knows you're the one who snores."

"You're brothers," I asked, surprised but I guess know that I thought about it they did look alike. There were just so different it was hard to believe.

The rest of the group laughed. "I know," said Kyle, "It's not fair. I got all the good looks and Ian's stuck looking like that."

I laughed; too shy to point out that Ian was clearly the better looking brother. Kyle's noise was bent at weird angles it must have been broken a few times.

When we were done eating Ian took me away from the group, "Where are we going?" I asked him.

"I want to show you something," he told me.

He led me to a room with lights on the walls. A small boy was sitting there also. "Hey Jamie," Ian whispered, "I thought I'd show Anya this place."

Jamie turned around and smiled at me. I'm sure he could tell from the look on my face how magical I thought this place was. "How?" I whispered.

"They're glowworms," Jamie explained.

"They're beautiful," I said, "So beautiful."

"I thought you might like them," Ian said.

"I love them," I said and I sat down next to Jamie.

We sat in a quiet silence for the next few minutes just studying the wall of lights. "You have to be quiet," Jamie whispered, "Or the lights go out." He clapped once and the lights stopped, "See?"

A moment later the lights started to come back on. "It's really amazing," I said.

"Yeah," Ian said from where he was standing behind me, "It really is."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the great reviews! I really love getting them; please keep posting them! Enjoy this chapter!**

**I do not own the Host.**

Chapter Four

The Visitor

I had been living in the cave for two weeks when somebody on guard duty spotted a girl in the desert. Ian, Kyle, Jeb and a few others went out to investigate. I handed Ian my gun, "Take this," I told him, "Just in case. Take care of yourself."

"I will," he told me, "You've still got to play me that song."

"I keep telling you I'm not any good," I said.

"I keep telling you I don't care," he said.

The group walked out of the cave and into the hot, dry desert. I went back to what I was doing but found myself worrying that aliens would kidnap Ian. What is this, I thought to myself, are you starting to have feelings for Ian? Why would you go and do a dumb thing like that?

It felt like hours later but it was probably only an hour I heard someone shout, "They're back."

I looked up and saw the group walking into the cave. The girl, the one they had gone into the desert to find, stumbled forwards. Her eyes gave her away; they were the silver eye color of the alien occupied bodies. "Jared," she called out, moving towards him, "Jared!"

He lifted his strong arm and slapped her so hard that she fell to the floor. There was a load scream and I was surprised to realize that it had come from my mouth. I ran to the girl and helped her stand up. Jared looked like he was going to punch her and so did Kyle. I glared at both of them. "Don't you hit her," I yelled, "Don't you dare!"

"She's the enemy," Kyle said, "Jesus Anya. What's wrong with you?"

"So shoot her if you have to!" I screamed, "Just don't hit her, don't you lay a finger on her!"

I found myself crying then. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jeb leading the girl away. She would be safe with him I knew. I looked around and then, embarrassed, ran to the room with the glowworms.

Once I got there I sat on the floor and cried and cried. Every few minutes I would become hysterical and start to hyperventilate. One of these times I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Sshh," Ian whispered, "Just breathe."

When I was calmer and the hysterics had calmed to just an occasional outburst I started to speak, "I, I, I," I said trying to find the right words, "I'm," gasp, "Sorry," gasp, "I'm so sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Ian asked.

"I don't know," I said, "I have no idea. I'm just sorry."

"Well don't be," he said, "Is there a reason you're so upset?"

I shook my head no. He nodded and we sat in silence for the longest time. Finally I opened my month to speak, "Maybe there is," I stared straight ahead at the wall of lights, "Maybe it was a little shocking to be a bystander for once. An observer instead of the one getting hurt."

He was silent for a moment. I turned around and studied his reaction. He looked mad and sad at the same time.

"A old boyfriend?" he asked quietly, cautiously, and the question hung in the air between us for a moment.

I shock my head, trying to find my voice, "No," I said, "My dad."

He looked like he was going to say something, offer me pity and sympathy but he stopped. I could tell he was behind me, sitting silently, but he did not make his presence known.

We sat there like that for a few minutes before he spoke, "When Kyle and I were kids," he started, "We knew this boy. He lived in our neighborhood and he rode the bus with us. We were friendly but never really close," he looked over at me trying to see how I was reacting to the story, "Every once in a while he would have a mysterious injury. If a teacher or another kid asked him about it the answer was always the same 'I got hurt playing sports'. The thing was the kid didn't play sports. He sat in his room and read books. I could see through the window. I always thought that was weird. 'Why would he lie about something like that?' But I figured he was just really clumsy. One day he stopped coming to school. Kyle was old enough to understand what had happen. I asked him what had happened to the boy and he told me that he was dead. He refused to tell me what happened. I figured it out on my own later on."

"That's a sad story," I said quietly.

"Ever since I figured it out," he said, "I wondered about it. How could somebody do that? Kill their own child?"

"My dad came pretty damn close," I muttered. I stood up then and started to walk away.

"Anya," Ian said getting up too, "I didn't mean to upset you. What I was trying to say was," he paused, looking into my eyes, "I love you." He stopped for a second, "I love you a lot. And I can't imagine why anyone would hurt you. I wish I could kill the bastard who hurt you. Because I, I will fight to the death to protect you." That's when he kissed me.


	5. Chapter 5

**I hope you like this chapter! I'm glad that you liked the last chapter and wrote reviews. Please write some more and tell me how I'm doing. **

**I do not own the Host.**

Chapter Five

The Wanderer

I haven't been kissed since all of this began. I kissed back for moment and then pulled away. "You don't really love me," I said, "You're just lonely. We all are."

"No," he said, "I love you. I love how kind you are, how compassionate, how brave. I love how beautiful you are and how strong you are. You are really special Anya."

This time it was me who leaned in and kissed him. Being there with him made everything that has happened to me my whole life disappear. All that matter was that moment.

"Whoa," a voice said from the entrance to the cave, "Get a room."

We pulled apart and turned around, startled, and saw Kyle behind us.

"We had one until you burst in here," I told him, "What do you want anyway?"

"I was just looking for Ian," he said, "We're going to go kill it."

"Did Jeb say to?" Ian asked looking at me to see my response to the conversation.

"No," Kyle admitted, "But who cares what the crazy old man says? It's got to die. Who cares if it's his niece?"

I grabbed Ian's arm "Don't hurt her too bad," I said "Make it quick."

"Do you want to come?" he asked me. I took my gun back from his pocket and nodded.

We walked through the caves to a room I had never been in before. The girl was sitting on a bench in the back looking upset. Outside of the room Jared was standing guard.

"It's got to die," Kyle told him, "You know that."

I didn't see which man throw the first punch but they quickly began to fight. "No!" the girl screamed, "No! It's me you want! Take me!"

"Finish it Ian!" Kyle screamed.

Ian started to go towards the girl. I grabbed his arm, "Don't," I said.

One of the other guys in the hall with us said, "It could be a seeker! Let Ian kill it."

"That's no seeker," I said, "They don't jump between fights like that."

"She's right," Ian said.

"The parasite's trying to stay alive," said Kyle.

"By giving you permission to kill her?" I asked him, "Jared, Kyle quit it with the fight. You," I said to the girl, "What's your name?" She looked upset and scared. "Honey," I said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

She glanced at my gun. I put it on the ground.

"They call me Wanderer," she told me.

"Okay Wanderer," I said, "Can I come into the room?"

She nodded we both went into the room. She sat back down on the bench. "Can I sit down?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, "Just please, please don't kill me."

"I promise you I won't kill you," I told her, "Ian," I called to him, "Would you get Kyle and the boys out of here. They're scaring her."

"Okay," he said.

"My name is Anya," I told Wanderer.

"Hi," she said, "Thank you."

"No problem," I said, "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," she said, pushing her brown hair behind her ears, "And thirsty."

I told Ian to get her some food and water, "So," I said to her and she took a sip of the water, "Are there other souls out there looking for us?"

"There might be some looking for me," she said, "I don't know. But nobody knows where I went."

"Why did you come here?" I asked her.

She stared straight ahead and whispered something I couldn't hear. "If I tell you," she said, "You'll think I'm lying and you'll kill me."

"I won't kill you," I told her, "I'm not a killer. Anything you tell me is between you and me unless you say otherwise. I'll listen to whatever you want to say."

"Melanie wanted to come here," she said.

"Melanie is your host," I said, "Jeb's niece?"

She nodded, "She made a promise to her brother," she said, "That she would come back. So she had to."

"So," I said, "She's in there with you, in your head?"

"Yeah," Wanderer said, "Yeah she is."

"I believe you," I told her, "I mean if it was me I wouldn't just hand over control to someone else. I'd stick around. From what I've heard about Melanie she would do the same."


	6. Chapter 6

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**I don't own the Host.**

Chapter Six

The Stories

Later after I had told Ian and Jeb what Wanderer told me Ian and I were talking. "What was life like?" He asked, "Before all this happened?"

I took a deep breath and began to tell the story, my story. "I grew up just outside of San Francisco," I told him, "My house was only a few blocks from the ocean. I could ride my bike to the local grocery store. When I was old enough I got a job there bagging groceries. It was nothing special but I loved it. It got me out of the house."

"Away from your dad," he said and I nodded.

"Life was okay until my mom died," I said, "My dad would get mad, slap me sometimes but nothing scary. Before she died he took it all out on her. Losing her was really, really hard."

Tears started to well up in my eyes. "What happened to her?" he asked, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"She had to leave him," I said, "She did the best thing she knew how to do."

"I'm so sorry Anya," he said, hugging me gently, "I'm so sorry."

"I was nine," I said, "I guess I fell through the cracks."

"I'm so glad you made it here," he told me.

"I am too," I said and I kissed him, "I wouldn't have met you if I didn't."

"I was a pretty typical teenager," I said, "I had a nice group of friends."

"What were they like?" he asked.

I laughed, "Oh we were the rebels. Every parent's worst nightmare."

He laughed too, "What made you a nightmare?"

"I drank, I smoked, I stayed out 'til all hours of the night, sometimes I wouldn't come home at all, but who could blame me for that. I got okay grades but never really spent time on schoolwork. Some friends were into drugs, more than just weed. Not me," I said, "I never touched a joint. But cigarettes were another story. I haven't smoked since the invasion. Man I'd give anything for just one."

"What did you do for fun?" he asked, "On weekends?"

"I worked a lot," I told him, "My friends could never understand why I did but I liked having something to do, someway to hold myself accountable. But when I wasn't working I would ride bikes around with my friends. We liked to try to sneak into tattoo parlors even though we were underage."

"You rebel," he teased me, "Did you ever get in?"

"Well," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him, "You'll have to wait and see."

He kissed me back, "I'll look forward to that. What else did you do?"

"I loved to go shopping," I informed him, "I was a runner. Nothing professional, just long runs, me and the sidewalk."

"How fast were you?" he asked.

"I never cared," I said, "I just liked to move. What about you? What's your story?"

"My story?" he asked with a grin.

"Yeah," I said, "Your story. I know you have one."

"I was somewhat popular in high school," he told me, "Not really sporty but I had lots of friends. I was a "B" student, nothing amazing."

"What did you do for fun?" I asked him.

"I played guitar," he told me, "Speaking of which."

"I'm no good," I reminded him.

"Oh come on," he said, "Not this again."

"Every time you bring it up I'll remind you," I told him, "I'm really not any good."

"You're probably better than you think," he told me.

"There's no doubt about it," I said, "I'm just not musically talented."

"I bet you are," he said.

"I know I'm not," I said.

We both looked at each other and laughed and laughed. We both leaned in for a kiss at the same time. I really, really love Ian, I thought, he is so special and perfect. Suddenly he pulled away from the kiss and grinned, "If you think you're so bad than prove it."

"No!" I said, gently pushing him away.

"That's because you're better than you think," he said.

"I am so not good," I told me.

"You probably are good!" He exclaimed.

"Oh Ian," I said, "I love you."


End file.
